


You're Going to Be OK

by one_true_houselight



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Battle of Hogwarts, Death, Fred and George, Gen, I try to bring in humor, Spoilers, This Is Sad, but it is sad, hi there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 21:03:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14269485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_true_houselight/pseuds/one_true_houselight
Summary: Fred and George are visited by a black robed figure





	You're Going to Be OK

**Author's Note:**

> Hi friends. So uh. Yeah. Let's get sad. Some timing stuff might diverge from canon, but I did my best. Enjoy!

Death read his list, trying to avoid looking at Albert. 

“You have to go, sir.”

CAN’T SOMEONE ELSE GO, ALBERT? IT IS NOT EVEN MY JURISDICTION.

Among the usual coffin lid tone, there was a hint of desperation. 

“You know you were specially asked to attend to this one. This one...carries the spirit of the Discworld.”

WELL, I KNOW THAT. THAT’S WHY I DON’T WANT TO GO.

Alfred raised an eyebrow at the black-clothed figure.

“I wasn’t aware you entertained such ideas.”

WELL YES. I… IT IS SOMETIMES HARD, WHEN THEY ARE A BELOVED FIGURE.

Death sighed, the blue fire where his eyes would be flaring a little.

BUT I GUESS IT IS TIME.

Death grabbed an hourglass off the table. It had been sent to him the day prior, along with the request for him to take care of the connected soul. He examined the glass again. It was ornate, different faces patterned over the dark wood. On one side, however, the wood was jagged and splintered as if something had been separated from it. Death traced the blemishes with a bony finger, feeling where the other hourglass had been attached. 

He finally slipped it into his robe and walked out the door, calling for Binky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fred and George Weasley sat in an abandoned classroom listening to the war preparations. They had made the rounds a few times trying to help, but after being dismissed at every turn, they found an empty room to pass the time in.

They sat on the long tables and looked at each other. They had talked a bit when they first came in. 

“Did you see Trelawney getting her crystal balls ready?”

“I bet the Death Eaters won’t see that coming.” George laughed at himself as Fred rolled his eyes. They continued talking about the measures being taken to protect the castle. After a while, the topic turned darker.

“Hey Fred.” Fred looked up from sparks trailing from his wand. “What are we gonna do if Mum and Dad don’t make it out?”

Fred’s eyes flicked away from his twin as he thought. “I mean. Whoever’s left will help pick up the pieces. Ginny at least isn’t fighting-” He was interrupted by a scoff. 

“You’re talking about Ginny? _Our_ Ginny? You really think she’s just going to sit in the Room of Requirement?” George looked incredulously at Fred, who nodded in agreement.

“Ok. fair. Well, someone’s bound to make it out, and whoever that is can take care of things. Besides, there aren’t really kids to take care of anymore.”

“Is one of the ‘things’ being taken care of Percy?” The name felt strange on George’s tongue, especially devoid of the insults that had surrounded it for the last few years. 

Fred started at the name as well. They had never gotten on well with Percy, and his betrayal had only served to widen that gap. But after what he said…

“Well,” Fred said, a glint in his eye, “I hope we’re alive to see that through.” The temperature in the room seemed to drop. They looked at each other, uneasiness swirling in their stomachs. “Sorry.” Fred muttered.

“Nah, don’t worry about it.” George forced a grin. They stopped talking after that.

Sometimes, they would hear footsteps outside the door. The first few times, they made to slide off the tables, but realized what they were doing and laughed. What were rules at a time like this? And, Fred pointed out, when had they ever followed them anyways?

GOOD EVENING.

Fred and George jumped as images of granite and marble inexplicably filled their heads. They found the source of the voice in the corner of the room. A tall figure draped in a black robe stood still, face hidden by a hood. The twins aimed their wands at him, their faces masks of determination. 

The determination faded into confused horror as their spells, a shock of red in the dim classroom, bounced off the wall behind the robed person. Their target sighed a sigh filled with the wind between gravestones.

I HAVE COME TO EXPECT THAT. I PROMISE I MEAN YOU NO HARM.

“Who the hell are you?” George was surprised his voice didn’t shake. In lieu of a response, Death lowered his hood, showing his bony face and glowing blue eyes. The twins took a step back. Silence filled the room. To their surprise, the figure shifted uncomfortably.

UM. I AM USED TO DOING THIS WHERE PEOPLE KNOW ME

Another bout of silence descended.

DO YOU MIND IF I SIT? I WOULD SUGGEST YOU DO THE SAME.

Fred awkwardly gestured to a chair. Death strode over and sat down, nodding for the twins to do the same. Fred and George slowly sat back on their tables. “So, er. What’s up, Mr… Mrs…” Fred trailed off. 

George jumped in. “What should we call you?” The figure pondered this.

I AM USUALLY CALLED DEATH.

The twins stared.

“Doesn’t Death normally have a scythe?” Before the last syllable had left Fred’s mouth, Death’s scythe was in his hand. “Uh, ok. I didn’t-er-you can put it-please put it away.” The scythe was no longer there.

“So Death,” George faltered as Death turned, the blue fire in his sockets looking inquisitively into his own brown eyes. “Are we… are we dead?” For some reason, the blunt statement seemed to release the tension in the room. 

“Well, that would be something. We didn’t even fight yet!” Fred grinned, finally able to fill the awful, awful silence from before. “Ron’s gonna _kill_ us for dying before we actually do anything.”

YOU ARE NOT DEAD. BUT IF YOU WERE, HOW WOULD THIS ‘RON’ KILL YOU AGAIN?

Fred and George looked at each other.

“It’s just an expression-”

“-I’m sorry, did you say we’re _not_ dead?” 

They spoke one after another, almost making it one sentence. Death looked between the two, but when they didn’t react to their synchronization, he sighed, playing with the singular hourglass under his robe.

OH. IT SEEMS I HAVE A WAYS TO GO WITH HUMAN EXPRESSIONS.

His chuckle faded under the twins’s expectant gazes.

AS TO YOUR OTHER QUESTION… I AM HERE IN PREPARATION FOR-

Before Death could finish, George nodded and turned to Fred.

“Well, we knew this might happen.” He turned back to Death. “I guess if we have to go out, it might as well be fighting, right?”

UM

Death desperately looked between the two identical faces, save for the one missing ear.

I THINK THIS WILL EXPLAIN THINGS BETTER.

He pulled out the hourglass, which swung on its chain. The twins stared at it.

“Are you serious?” George looked shocked.

I AM AFRAID-

“I can’t believe they even combined our hourglasses!” Death stared as George ranted. “I was hoping they would have the decency to let us have separate death timers-”

“I am the older one, so mine should be longer-” Fred was cut off by a scoff from George.

“Oh, all about length again. I’m just saying we are-”

“-Two separate people and we-”

“-should get two separate hourglasses counting down to our deaths!” They nodded at each other before turning to Death, grinning from ear to missing ear. Death could not remember ever having this kind of trouble delivering the news.

THEY DID NOT COMBINE YOUR HOURGLASSES

Fred and George looked confused. 

“Well, then where’s the other one?” As George spoke, he felt a sudden sense of foreboding. 

Death wasn’t sure how to answer that, so instead spun the hourglass in his hands to show the ruined wood. The room seemed to fill with cotton as realization dawned. Fred sucked in air through his teeth as George brought his knees to his chin. “So the other one…” Fred trailed off, transfixed by the splintered wood.

WAS ATTACHED, I PRESUME. I DO NOT KNOW WHY IT IS NOT NOW.

Fred abruptly stood up and walked over to George. He sat down next to him, letting George lean on him just a bit. “Who-” Fred stopped, before lowering his voice. “Do we want to know anything?”

George hesitated. “I think I do. I want to know...who… so we can talk. Besides,” he continued with a forced grin, “whoever it is gets to make the darker jokes, right?” The twins looked up at Death, who was very focused on the wall opposite them. He turned to them. His face, though it was just bone and blue light, seemed to be a mask of regret.

THIS GLASS BELONGS TO FRED.

Neither twin could tear their eyes away from the swinging timepiece, but their hands found each other, desperately holding on.

“Is it while I’m fighting?” Fred’s casual voice only betrayed his terror to George. Death nodded. “Well, good. They can’t put my name into one of those ‘weird fact’ books.” He smiled and nudged his brother. 

“Wait.” George stayed curled up, but his eyes pierced Death with a wild look. “We can play, like, a game for souls, right?”

THAT IS CORRECT.

George looked at Fred. 

“Well, I’ve got cards!”

IF WE ARE TO PLAY, WE WOULD USE MY OWN CARDS

Death reached into another part of the robe and pulled out a deck of cards. To Fred and George’s surprise, they had pictures of cats on the back.

“Er. Well. Um.” Fred looked at George in confusion.

YOU COULD CHOOSE A DIFFERENT GAME

Ignoring Death, Fred leaned in and whispered to George. “What’s wrong with his cards?”

“Well,” said George sheepishly, “I was going to use these.” He pulled a pack from his pocket. It was from their shop, and they were charmed to let their owner win. Fred tsked at him.

“You can’t cheat Death! That would be so cheap.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I figured since we’re playing for-” George stumbled for a second, the gravity of words hitting him before he could process it. “-well, you know, I figured we should have the odds in our favor.”

“While I do appreciate the thoughtful gesture, and I’m sure I won’t have the chance to let someone do it for me again, for reasons beyond the obvious, I feel like I should go out with honor, you know?” Suddenly, they both gasped.

“That’s why we’re in Gryffindor!” they yelled together.

“Or least, that’s why _I_ am. This little plan should have landed you in Ravenclaw.”

“You know what, this was for-”

WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO LEAVE YOU?

Fred and George jumped at the reminder of Death’s presence. Fred nodded before looking away. When he finally looked again, Death had left the room. After a moment of silence, the twins looked at each other, desperately clinging to their usual banter, their arguments and discussions and off topic rants-

George threw himself on Fred and sobbed into his shoulder. Fred hugged him back, tears rolling down his face.

They had always been a _we_. Their things had always been _ours_ , and when it was time, at the end of the day, to remember what they had, it had always been _us_. _They_ had been on the run from Death Eaters, broadcasting their damn radio show, and they had nothing except each other. _They_ opened a shop, _they_ ran away from Umbridge, _they_ were Beaters, _they they they_. And yes, sometimes being treated as a unit was annoying. But they had always had each other, and at the end of the day, that’s all they needed. The idea of such a final _I_ was...indescribable. But they were about to have to describe it.

They sat like that in the classroom for what felt like a long time. The silence seemed to fill with falling sand. George eventually conjured two handkerchiefs, and they sat and sniffled. 

“Remember when we made the swamp?” Fred’s voice cut through the shock. “Filch had to throw kids across.” George laughed weakly. 

“Or the time we walked around yelling about the Heir of Slytherin?” George’s voice grew a little stronger. “Or when we accidentally gave Neville a Canary Cream?” They were both crying again, but they were laughing too. 

They reminisced more, trying to forget their new reality for a little bit longer. Soon, though, the conversation fizzled out, leaving the elephant in the room looming over them, demanding to be discussed. 

“Ron will be good at helping with the shop. You can…” Fred trailed off, not sure how to continue. Death had never scared him, not really. And it still didn’t, if he was being honest. He and George had kind of expected to die by this point, so the fact they were here was a miracle. But the notion of leaving George, of not being with him, of not scheming together…

“I suppose we don’t want to try and cheat the system.” George sighed. 

“Yeah. I don’t see how we could.” Without warning, Fred started laughing again. George joined him, neither able to stop for a while. When they finally did regain their breath, Fred moved to sit across from George. 

“Hey, uh. Thanks. For, you know, being my brother and supporting me-”

“Oh god, Fred, are we really doing this?”

“Shut up, this is important.” Even though George could tell Fred wasn’t mad, he could tell his brother was serious.

“Gotcha. Sorry.”

Fred sighed. “Nah, it’s fine. This is hard. I just...would rather say things than not say them, you know?” 

George nodded. “Only if I get a go as well.”

“Of course. I don’t want to be the only one getting sappy.” Fred grinned before continuing. “So like I was saying, thanks for supporting me and pushing me to be my best.”

“To be fair,” George said, eliciting an over exaggerated sigh from Fred, “Some of the things I pushed you to do weren’t the ‘best’. More like your full potential.”

“Thanks, Beetle the Bard.” Fred bowed dramatically at a laughing George. “Would you like to write me a script, or can I bloody continue?” George pretended to zip his lips (a gesture learned from Harry), then motioned for Fred to keep talking. “Alright. Um. You’ve helped me ‘reach my full potential’. You really have. We built Wheezes together, and you stuck with me even when it was some stupid dream. You’re my best friend, you keep me sane and on track. You sat with me through panic attacks I didn’t even know I was having. I…” Fred thought. “Just...thanks.”

George grabbed Fred’s handkerchief and threw it at him. “My turn?” Fred nodded. “Alright. Well. Thank you for being my brother-”

“Excuse me, Mr. Weasley.” George cackled at Fred’s impression of Professor Flitwick. “I believe that is what we call ‘plagiarism’.”

“I was trying to build a motif, _sir_.” Fred lost it at George’s over emphasis on the honorific, which allowed the latter to continue. “Anyways. Look. You kept me getting out of bed, you made sure I was eating. You convinced me to go out with you for Quidditch.”

“I was right, too! You were a great Beater.”

“You were. Or, I was. Whatever. You saved my life, and helped make me who I am today. I’m gonna miss the _shit_ out of you.”

Both were crying again. They stood up and hugged each other until the tears stopped. Fred pulled back and held George’s shoulders. “I think you’ll grow up just fine.”

“I am grown, you git.” They giggled a little, only stopping when a knock came from the door.

“Come in!” The door opened, revealing Harry Potter.

“Oh, hi Harry!”

“Don’t know if you’ve heard, but we’ve got a spot of trouble coming up.”

Harry rolled his eyes with a smile. “I had heard something like that, yeah.”

“Jolly good, what can we do you for?” George could see Fred breathing a little more deeply than usual. 

“You said to come get you when it was time. Remus wants you in the Astronomy Tower, George, and you’ll be up two floors, Fred.”

Only George noticed Fred stiffen before speaking. “Sounds like a plan. Where’s Percy? How’s he doing?”

“He’ll be with you, actually.” The twins nodded, quietly rolling up their sleeves. “Good luck, you guys.”

“Good luck!”

That was the last time they would say something in sync.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fred fought alongside Percy. _Well, there’s a sentence I didn’t expect to think_

A hood fell off a Death Eater, revealing Pius Thicknesse. Percy shot a spell at his chest while yelling, “Hello Minister! Did I mention I’m resigning?”

Fred cackled with delight. “You’re joking, Perce!” _Death Eater down_ “You actually are joking, Perce… I don’t think I’ve heard you joke since you were-”

The world stopped working. Fred was vaguely aware that there had been a very _very_ loud sound, but now there was just quiet. ‘Up’ wasn’t so much a tangible concept as it was a funny little sound to make at the back of one’s throat. He vaguely brought a hand up to his head. 

Suddenly, the world righted itself. Fred was standing- _how was he standing?_ -in the hall. The ceiling and part of the wall had crumbled in, clearly debris from whatever explosion had occurred. Hw wondered again how he had stayed upright after whatever had happened, until-

He watched Percy shriek and run to a figure under the rubble- _oh._

He stared as Percy clung to the lifeless body, watched as Harry pulled him away with a face so full of emotion is was devoid of any identifiable expression. They tore through a tapestry into a secret passage, and were gone. Fred watched the spot where they had vanished for a while until he felt a presence over his shoulder. He turned to see a familiar robed figure.

ARE YOU READY?

Fred hesitated.

“Could I see how it ends? Could I see everyone one last time?” Death nodded, and everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

George stood in shock over the body. He had known this was coming. He had talked with him before they split up. He thought he had prepared, he thought he couldn’t cry anymore-

George sunk to his knees next to Fred and sobbed. He was vaguely aware of others: people holding him, people holding Fred, people lying dead all around him, but they couldn’t break him away from what was in front of him. He stared at the ceiling, daybreak spreading across its magical expanse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fred looked at the body- _his_ body-laying on the ground, surrounded by the living and the other dead. He watched George slowly approach the body, watched him sink down next to it, dissolving into tears. Fred cried too. Eventually, George lifted his head, and seemed to stare at Fred, though he knew it was impossible.

“Remember what I said.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The twins stand in the classroom, right before the knock. Fred whispered in George’s ear, the last thing the two of them would share:

“You’re going to be ok.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

George heard the words echo in his mind as he stared at the lighten sky. Someone came up to him-Hermione. She laid a hand on his shoulder, saying nothing. He looked up at her and whispered, “I’m going to be ok.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fred smiled. He turned and followed Death into the Great Beyond.

EPILOGUE

George laid in St. Mungo’s. He had been here for almost two weeks, steadily worsening. He wasn’t sad. He had lived a good life, had said goodbye to everyone that mattered. He watched a dust mote dance in a beam of sunlight. He thought about when a black robed figure had come, many years ago, and-

HELLO, GEORGE

George turned his head in surprise. There stood Death, his face a perpetual grin, and beside him-

“Hey, Fred.” Fred grinned, crinkling his face more than it already was. “I thought you didn’t age in the afterlife.”

“Wanted to age with you. Figured there would be plenty of time for being young when you finally showed up.” George laughed. He had, of course, laughed since the Battle. But this was a different kind of laugh, the kind only one person can cause. “I told you that you were going to be ok.”

‘You sure did.”

ARE YOU READY?

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Fred stepped over to the bed and pulled George to his feet, leaving his body behind. They watched the age pour off each other like water as they followed Death. 

“I miss the beard already, Gred.”

“Oh my god, I knew you would say something about the bloody beard.”

And so, the Weasley twins were reunited at last.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Find me at one-true-houselight on tumblr, where you can directly yell at me. Kudos and comments are appreciated!


End file.
